Alison McConnell: Partick Thistle's waiting game would never have been allowed to happen to Celtic or Rangers

Some time back when Jags boss Alan Archibald spoke about what it means to be Thistle, ie not expecting certain decisions in certain games, he would have been hard pushed to image a scenario such as this weekend’s playing out.

The farcical situation around the Firhill side’s game against Hearts at Tynecastle spent as much time up in the air this weekend as a cross atlantic flight.

Five hours before kick-off the green light was given for the fixture to go ahead; hurrah!

Let’s be honest here. Such a scenario would ever have been allowed to unfold in the garbled manner it did had the opposition carried a little more clout - would Celtic or Rangers have hung around waiting on a definitive answer on whether or their opponents could fulfil a fixture date until the very last minute?

Would Brendan Rodgers have twiddled his thumbs the night before a game was due to take place planning around it going ahead/not going ahead? Don’t kid yourself.

Equally unimaginable is that there would not have been more pressure exerted on those higher up the chain to make a definitive decision.

Hearts do not come out of an embarrassing situation looking good, but neither do the SPFL.

The league needs all the positive PR is can get. Having one team scrapping around to get themselves ready in order to fulfil a fixture made them look as weak as Hearts looked silly.

That was compounded by their failure to insist on stepping in and making a decision.

When it became apparent on Friday that there was an issue with the safety certificate that was the hour to make a call.

And, for all those rushing to counter with the argument that Celtic postponed a league fixture - and against Thistle no less – in order to fulfil a duty at a glamour friendly in Ireland against Inter Milan last season for which they were significantly weighed in, that very same privilege can and does apply to teams throughout the league.

Furthermore, it was an issue that was put up for a vote with legislation passed through a democratic process.

It is a world away from casting doubt on an ability fulfil a fixture in the lead up to a game.

Hearts do not come out of the situation in any great light and nor do those who allowed them to dither over their ability to meet their commitment and in the process keeping all those involved in a game on edge until the immediate hours before kick-off.

There were suggestions in many that Hearts should have forfeited the points for the fiasco.

A more balanced approach and the application of some common sense could have been to make an early call and flip the fixture, with Thistle hosting the Tynecastle side in Glasgow.

The penalty of having to forfeit a home fixture and all that entails would have been the fairest and most simple way to address the issue rather than the humming and hawing that went on throughout the weekend.

If Hearts’ home arena was deigned to be unfit to meet the criteria expected then the only answer had to be to play the game elsewhere – with the call made as soon as it became apparent that there was an issue with the ground being ready to host a fixture.

Hearts’ decision to spend £13m to modernise their main stand is to be applauded and there is much than Anne Budge has done at the Edinburgh club that is progressive.

But they come out of this one with red faces all round.

Not only that but an intervention from the league to make the decision for them would have taken pressure off of both clubs.

Granted, the time of year we are heading into suggests teams across the board will be in a similar situation at various points with the vagaries of a Scottish winter set to exert its grip.

And yet, such circumstances are outwith the control of anyone and are difficult to countenance against. The situation at Tynecastle has been coming for weeks now and it seemed inevitable that there would be a race against time to have the facility ready for yesterday’s meeting.

A decision made would have removed any doubt over the game.

It was unfair on Partick Thistle and it would never have been allowed to happen to any other club in Glasgow.

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